Chicago Cubs are “expected to be finalists” for major free agent, per MLB reporter

The Chicago Cubs have been in the market for adding significant talent to the 2026 roster, but have not landed a big free agent as of yet. There are still some that have yet to be signed and make sense for the team. However, one impact player is expected to have the Cubs as a finalist for his decision. Let’s take a closer look at who it is and what this possible signing would mean for Chicago.

Tatsuya Imai reportedly has the Chicago Cubs as one of the finalist teams for his services

Baseball reporter and BBWAA Member Francys Romero posted on social media how the Cubs are expected to be a finalist for the Imai sweepstakes.

“Around five MLB teams have shown real interest in 27-year old Japanese ace Tatusya Imai, per industry sources. The New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs are expected to be finalists to sign Imai.”

This would go against Imai previously saying he did not want to play with other Japanese-born players, as the Cubs have Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga on the roster. However, this would be a massive signing for the team as they would get a major star in the rotation. He has until Jan. 2 to sign with a

What would Tatsuya Imai signing with the Chicago Cubs mean for the team?

The signing of Imai would instantly give the Cubs a sense of going forward with their success. Even with the expected loss of Kyle Tucker offensively if this were the case, this would extremely help the pitching staff. With Justin Steele continuing to recover from UCL surgery, signing Imai would give the team another starting pitcher. It would also make a name like Colin Rea or Jameson Taillon expendable in a trade if the front office wanted to improve that way offensively.

The starting pitching finished eighth in ERA last season and adding Imai would make it even better. Last season, he pitched in 24 games and went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA and a 45:178 walk-to-strikeout ratio over 163.2 innings. With a 27-year-old star. at the top of the rotation, few teams can match that when healthy. There is an old adage in baseball that you can never have too much pitching, and a rotation in October with Imai, Steele, Matthew Boyd, and either Shota Imanaga or Cade Horton is going to be difficult to do much against.

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